As court orders Senator Umeh to repay N136m bank debt with interest to AMCON
It is not a surprise that Victor Umeh is finally exposing his dubious character before Nigerians and the international community as a whole. A chronic borrower who equally thrives on embezzling public funds, converting and siphoning funds raised for various purposes.
According to court documents filed by AMCON, Umeh got a loan of N23,250,000.00 from the now defunct Skye Bank in January 2008 “to enable him to invest in and purchase shares of a financial institution in Nigeria.
“The tenor of the credit facility granted the defendant was specifically fixed for 356 days. The offer letter contained various other explicit terms and conditions which the defendant accepted by duly duly executing the memorandum of acceptance.
“The defendant utilised the funds granted to him as a credit facility by the bank. However, at the expiration of the tenor of the facility, the defendant failed and neglected to liquidate the credit facility as per the contract.”
AMCON stated that it later acquired the unpaid debt when Skye Bank became unsuccessful in making Umeh repay.
It added that its suit was to recover the debt which stood at N135,722,303.40k as at April 2011.
Justice Ekwo, in his judgment on Monday, noted that despite being served with court documents concerning the case, Umeh failed to file any response or make any effort to enter a defence.
The judge said: “It is to be noted at this point that the defendant, upon being served, failed to enter a defence in this case.
“It is trite law that the net effect of the failure of a defendant to file pleadings is that the assertions of the claimant in his pleadings stand unchallenged and are deemed admitted and established
“It is also trite that the effect of a defendant’s failure to call evidence in defence of the claims against him at the trial is that he is presumed to have admitted the case made against him by the claimant,”
How else can anyone describe someone who borrowed such huge amount for investment in 2008, but declined to pay back after 15 years? This is a clear indication of treachery and dubious mindedness. Victor Umeh has by this singular judgement proved himself as an unrepentant cheat and a monumental failure.
Indeed, this development among others not yet disclosed to the public casts more light on the notoriety and unreliability of the political nuisance called Victor Umeh, a clear proof of the emergency senator’s selfish interest, which is obviously not in the interest of Anambra Central constituency, because nobody can point out any tangible achievement credited to him as a senator.
This is not the first time and not even a new thing. Victor Umeh who has been facing EFCC trial since two years ago has become an ardent customer of the agency in connection with diversion and misappropriation of funds meant for political activities and day to day running of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
This criminal minded Victor Umeh has never done anything meaningful in his life, except absolute dependence on funds raised for political purposes. For instance, Peter Obi was paying Victor Umeh ₦20m naira (as APGA Chairman) every month for the 8 years he was governor of Anambra State.
Former governor Willie Obiano inherited the liability and started paying Victor Umeh ₦30m every month, but governor Soludo assumed office and stopped the payment which he must have considered outrageous; a situation which didn’t go down well with Umeh, and that was when problem started, which compelled him to betray Soludo during APGA Guber primaries, but as God may have it, Soludo scaled through.
Umeh has lived all his life in total dependence on Anambra state government treasury. He is is certainly the most insatiable politician in Anambra state. Right now he is just in the senate to enjoy his retirement because he has nothing to show for holding such important position of authority.
Victor Umeh was the only National Chairman who has planned local government and council elections three times and duped the aspirants in all three occasions. In each occasion he usually sells nomination forms to chairmanship / councillorship aspirants and diverts the money without blinking an eye.
His desperation for money and juicy position at the Red Chamber saw him endorse a muslim-muslim ticket for the election of Senate President which also fell like a pack of cards. In fact, his desperation for personal aggrandizement will most likely land him in jail, particularly his ongoing trial by the EFCC.
All the people that worked for this treacherous, wicked and irritating character Victor Umeh are still fighting their way out of poverty, while the wicked Victor Umeh keeps living large, enriching only his family members and boasting about arrogantly, as if those that voted for him have made a terrible mistake. His arraignment and subsequent exposure by the court is no doubt a lesson for all those following him sheepishly, not knowing that nothing good can ever emanate from a desperate and evil-minded character who places quest for quick money and ambition above all human considerations.
The truth remains that if Umeh had wanted to pay the money, he could have done it years ago having been in positions where he could just close eyes and pay up, but he refused to pay due his wickedness and treacherous mind. All he wants is the slightest opportunity to continue duping people and collecting their money to maintain his fabricated political blackmail machinery and mischievous way of life. In a civilized clime Umeh should be behind bars by now, as such a character has no business anywhere around the national assembly or any position of authority, no matter how small the office may be.
It is so shameful that Victor Umeh has spent 33 good years duping people from Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, etc, in the name of selling party nomination forms, whereby he collected bribes from every single aspirant that shows interest in any position. Since his foray into politics, where he has jumped from ANPP, CPC, PDP, APGA to LP, Umeh has been duping people with the impression that he is either contesting or conducting an election. In fact he is a serial runner of every election. He said publicly that he’ll rather die than betray Ojukwu. Today he has totally abandoned Ojukwu, the Supreme Leader of APGA, just because he lost party primaries in APGA.
On the other hand, each time he conducts inter party elections, he gives out tickets to only aspirants that meet his financial target for each position, rather than verify if the person is capable of providing the desired leadership. It is on record that APGA started breathing the moment Victor Umeh left the party.
Meanwhile, the law of karma is fighting for Umeh’s victims, not only for this deserved judgement against him, but because those who know him well can easily confirm that he is now a ghost of his former self, as a result of all the wickedness he meted out on aggrieved counsellors of APGA and other party stakeholders whom he collected huge amounts of money from, yet denied them party tickets for over 13 years he held sway as national chairman of the party. Even Ojukwu will be fighting Victor Umeh from his grave because he used Ojukwu’s name to dupe many politicians. He vowed never to leave Ojukwu, but today he has swallowed his vomit by dumping Ojukwu and defecting to Labour Party in his desperate quest for power at all costs.
